That Which Breaks Me
by Gea
Summary: PostAWE. After Will stabs the heart, Jack is forced to leave Elizabeth on account of his own conscience. Upon reuniting after some time, both must experience the trials and tribulations of love to face the horizon together. JE of course


I don't own any part of Pirates of the Caribbean for I'd be a fool to claim so.

Elizabeth paced the deck of the _Empress _her eyes sweeping over the laughing faces of the crew who danced their jigs and drowned themselves in rum. Ragetti sat near the mast as his hand thrust a bow over the strings of his fiddle, Pintel tapping his foot in time to the music his companion played. She flashed a smile as Cotton captured her hand between his wrinkled own and nodded kindly in blessing. "Have you seen Will?" she inquired, dismissing the fact that she was questioning a man without the ability to speak. He shook his head in response and toddled off to join the merrymaking.

'_Tis a long journey back to Port Royal…_Gibbs had explained to Elizabeth what seemed like ages ago. Since then, everything had happened so quickly she'd hardly had time to clear her head before acting. An onboard wedding seemed a great way to wave off any temptations on the voyage home. _'Yes, a wedding on the _Empress_,'_ she'd clarified for Will, hoping to fool herself into thinking it as a perfect escape as much as she'd swayed him to believe. And so it had commenced, a wedding aboard the oriental ship she captained, Gibbs taking on the role of minister to pronounce the two married.

Of course this was what she wanted. What more could she ask for? She was married to a man who adored her with his whole heart and granted promises of a peaceful, domesticated future by her side. Elizabeth's gaze flickered from the deck of her ship to the deck of another's that loomed beside the vessel. A ship with tinted sails and an eccentric rogue to captain her. She swallowed, the nauseating drop in her stomach nearly catching her off her feet. This was ridiculous. Silly dreams once wished upon for a life of freedom with him were all too wearisome to consider again. Her eyes welled suddenly with tears at the thought that maybe she'd passed up a chance to live out her life that way she'd wanted.

Elizabeth sniffled lightly, pushing off her doubts and rushing off towards her cabin in search of her husband.

* * *

The light-hearted music fading through the windows of his cabin distracted Jack from his wallowing as he slumped in his chair, a rum bottle hung from his grasp. He should have been a brute and forbid his crew to attend then maybe he wouldn't have had to deal with the agonizing thought of _her._ Jack took a swig of his rum, striving to blur her entire essence as best he could. _We're getting married, Jack. I just thought I should be the one to tell you._ No luck, mate. There was no escaping her.

Maybe if he'd just granted her another taste, maybe then she would have come to her senses and seen the façade she was pulling by staying by the man she'd claimed to love. He cleared his throat to brush off the pang in his heart. _You're invited if you'd like to come. _How could she have been so vindictive? Daring to further toy with him by dropping an invite. _Don't think so, love. _Bloody beautiful Lizzie… he should have said more. He should have shouted over her lips with pent up fire then kissed them all the same. No, he should have thrown something to illustrate his disapproval. He'd make a note of it next time.

Jack brought the bottle to eye-level; blinking down at the gleam around the glass rim as if it could lull him to a drunken sleep. Disappointingly, the sight of her he'd etched in his mind when she'd shown up in his cabin doorway that morning failed to tire him into slumber. The dress she'd worn with the lace trimming and flowing veil made her all the more desiring. How he'd wished to have ripped her from the constraint as he had the day they'd first met and carry her to his bed to trail kisses over her newly bronzed skin to claim her as his own and no one else's. He snorted lightly, tipping the bottle so that its contents filled his mouth and doused his scent. When had he fallen as a victim like Norrington and Will – the same men he pitied for getting tangled in such a web of their own wretched makings of love?

He propped his crossed legs over top of the maps lain across the table while trying his best to think of anything other than the wedding party taking place on the ship just across the way. As if she weren't intoxicating enough as a pirate, but to be captain of her own ship…now _there_ was a woman. Funny, he'd never quite questioned her on what she planned to do with her ship and crew upon returning to Port Royal. Perhaps, that was all apart of the terms of a deal she'd made with Will if he were to marry her. _Bloody Will, bloody marriage, bloody Eliza— _

Jack groaned and his hands flew to his ears as a shrill whistling pierced the air. Aside from the broken rum bottle scattered on the floor, the cabin windows cracked at the ear-splitting noise as it continued on. He kicked himself away from the table, trudging towards the port hole. Gazing out to the ship opposite his own, his eyes beheld a blinding white light cast from the _Empress' _windows.

He broke out onto the deck, eyes blazing wildly as his crew retreated to the wooden planks to board the _Pearl._ "Cap'n!" Gibbs shouldered by some of the crewmates who bustled around him to approach his captain.

"Mister Gibbs! What is that god awful sound?" The elder man with fingers pressed in his ears shook feverishly.

"It's Will! He has the heart!" Jack was taken aback, explanations brewing in his mind that could not contemplate how the young Turner had gotten a hold of it. His face fell into dismay. Stepping towards one of the planks leading onto the other ship, Gibbs trailed him, pleading for some sort of order.

"Make the hands worth ready," he growled back while he dashed across the lath to search for Elizabeth.

* * *

Elizabeth stepped into her cabin dimly lit by candlelight and gently closed the doors behind her. Her eyes were bright with confusion when she noticed Will's back turned to her from across the room, preoccupied with something that was hidden from view. "Will...?" she cooed, approaching him cautiously when she received no answer. Finally as if the sound of her steps had caught his attention, he cast a glance over his shoulder and frowned.

"You shouldn't be in here." Elizabeth slowed to a stop. There was coldness in his voice that she hadn't heard since he'd confronted her about the kiss she'd shared with Jack.

"Well, it _is _my cabin." She knew she shouldn't have, but she tested her limits with him anyway as if it would earn her some respect. He wasn't Jack, though, and this wasn't some game.

His shoulders slumped as if in defeat before he spun to face her. Whatever breath she was holding shot out from her the instant she'd seen the thumping heart cradled in his hand and his father's knife in the other. "Will, what are you doing?" she asked quietly, fearing that if she made any sudden movement he'd plunge the blade into the flesh.

"I need to save my father." His voice was cracking with every word and it frightened her.

"You don't have to do this. We can find another way to save him, Will. Please, don't." She reached out to him but flinched as he shrugged away from her, refusing to look into her eyes as if they'd disarm him.

"I made a promise, Elizabeth," he uttered, his grip tightening around the handle. Elizabeth was infuriated for countless reasons but mainly due to the fact that in just a blink of the eye, everything could come crumbling down before her.

"And what of the promise you made to me just a few hours ago?! I'm begging you not to do this," she cried, the caution she'd taken moments before seeming ineffective. Will pressed his back to the window draped with Asian silk, suddenly as restless as if the room were closing in on him.

"Will…" Elizabeth's voice shuddered as his clammy grip around the weapon tightened once more. Finally, his eyes locked on hers and for the first time, she came to understand that Will had and would always have the innocence of a child.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth." She watched in horror as the blade's tip penetrated the tissue. Her arms flew before her eyes as she turned away from the blinding white light that emitted from the wound. Her scream was followed by a shrieking sound that nearly shattered the cabin windows as it grew louder as the light consumed more of the heart.

Elizabeth fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands as the cruel noise reminded her of what she was losing. A pair of strong arms cradled her suddenly, catching her between falling tears. Squinting in the blinding light, she saw the familiar chin braids dangling in front of her eyes. "Jack! Will stabbed the heart!"

Jack embraced her further while she cried into his shoulder. It was as if she had completely disregarded the piercing scream and the reality that the _Empress_ was beginning to give way by some unexplained force that he believed to be that of the heart. He hadn't expected to, but seeing as it would be the only way to save the both of them, he scooped her up in his arms bridal-style – he overlooked the irony – and stumbled for the doors. Sparing a final glance into the room, he bid a silent farewell to William Turner as he was engulfed in light, clutching at his heart.

Running on deck, Jack led what loyal crew members stayed on ship with their captain to the _Black Pearl,_ Elizabeth limp in his arms. Gibbs had joined up beside him, his eyes switching from his captain to the woman curled in his arms. "Let's get a move on!" Jack roared to his crew before retreating to his cabin, Elizabeth still whimpering in his arms.


End file.
